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Is LGP Going The Way Of Loki Software?

06-23-2010, 01:00 AM

Phoronix: Is LGP Going The Way Of Loki Software?

Born out of the demise of Loki Software in 2001 was Linux Game Publishing, but now a decade later the fate of LGP is not looking good for the company that has ported about two dozen game titles to Linux.

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There's another issue too: the rate that Linux interfaces change, the odds aren't exactly low than a binary-only game released five years ago simply wouldn't be able to run on a modern distro. From that viewpoint Wine is actually a better option, since Windows games are written to a fairly standardised API which Wine supports and always will support.

I've been surprised by how well my older games do run in Wine; as the poster above says, the biggest issue is DRM, but since I've bought most of my favorite old games DRM-free from gog.com, that's no longer a problem. If they can just get the NOLF series and Carmageddon that would be about it.

Comment

There's another issue too: the rate that Linux interfaces change, the odds aren't exactly low than a binary-only game released five years ago simply wouldn't be able to run on a modern distro. From that viewpoint Wine is actually a better option, since Windows games are written to a fairly standardised API which Wine supports and always will support.

I've been surprised by how well my older games do run in Wine; as the poster above says, the biggest issue is DRM, but since I've bought most of my favorite old games DRM-free from gog.com, that's no longer a problem. If they can just get the NOLF series and Carmageddon that would be about it.

If the port is written well this should not be an issue. Look at UT2k4 for exampel; it still works.

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I am surprised that LGP have been running this long, I can't see how they would make any money from selling old games.

What is important for linux gaming is that the game studios start releasing new games for Linux, like ID, and hopefully Valve, are doing. The old games are not interesting for kids growing up today, only "oldtimers" (like myself) find the old games fascinating. And who in their right mind will pay $20 for a linux-ported game when they can get the same (or similar) game(s) from gog (Good Old Games) for $10. (Which runs fine in wine)

So what we as linux users and gamers should do is focus on buying only new games which are able to run on Linux. And we should make sure the game studios knows we wouldn't have bought the game if it was Win/Mac-only. For instance, it could have been nice if phoronix.com was even more vocal about commercial games for linux. (I am all for paying for a good game) With additional polls to somehow show how many copies were sold to linux-users. The commercial companies only focuses on three things: profit, profit, profit.

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Games of today are scripted movies and all suck. Multiplayer is not the answer as you can't beat it.

I wanted to make my own game ever since I was 4 and with the disgust of the current situation I am actually gonna do it. As a matter of fact; got the OpenGL programming book sixth edition with me righg now... The offical gazillion pages C++ book I have at home and the initial blender learning is done.

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Games of today are scripted movies and all suck. Multiplayer is not the answer as you can't beat it.

I wanted to make my own game ever since I was 4 and with the disgust of the current situation I am actually gonna do it. As a matter of fact; got the OpenGL programming book sixth edition with me righg now... The offical gazillion pages C++ book I have at home and the initial blender learning is done.

Sounds like an epic endeavor I wish you all the best! (I'm pretty confident that you already know how much work this is, and how many game developers that fail miserably? Compared to how few that really succeed)

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But it was/is also their horrible website, the limited digital payment options (Paypal, Google, Amazon???) and their refusal to sell purely digital copies for prices that are somewhat competitive.

Sacred Gold (one of their strongest recent titles) can be bought as a windows version for 5€ here in Germany (maybe 10€ depending where you go), something below 20€ for a digital copy of the linux version would be fine I guess, but 27 pounds (32€) give me a f***ing break!